KRTH, KCBS-FM and Wikipedia

[Marv-L.A.]

Yup---they all did.

The fact that 1973 was an exceptional year for top 40 radio, and certainly an extraordinary-and-them-some year for rock albums & the AOR format, made the avalanche of dreadful product from 1974 very hard to tolerate.

 

[BruceC]

This is total BS. The ARROW brand underperformed for years. The KRTH brand is well-known and something only a few LA stations have; a strong identity with listeners. Flush this outrageous rumor down the commode. It's sheer folly and fantasy. Too bad this "tabloid" type disinformation finds its' way onto a credible website. It's a waste of time.

 

[MusicMaestro]

speaking of the KRTH 101 brand(of which it IS legendary with us music/radio nerds ), does anyone know of where I could get a historical list of their radio personalities from the past? (as we get older, the memory fades just a bit! ;D) I always enjoyed "Mr. Rock N' Roll", Brian Beirne's mid-day shows the best.

 

[scooty430]

Scooty what movie are you referring to featuring Beatles music?

Would be nice for KRTH to insert just once per hour a gem prior to '64. Nowadays even playing something as germane as Walk Don't Run would be an Oh Wow song. But playing the wrong 70s song i.e. Billy Don't Be a Hero would be an Oh God song.

The movie Scooty was referring to was "Across The Universe", which was just recently released on DVD. It did moderately well at the box office. It got mixed reviews.

Billy, Don't Be a Hero always caused me to change stations in seconds flat.

By the way, I didn't see Across the Universe - I heard mixed reviews myself. However, the fact that it became a buzz hit amongst a very young (mostly female) crowd shows the staying power of the Beatles music. A co-worker in her 20's also says the male lead is I guess a heartthrob, so that's a factor. But apparently the kids are also very into the music - memorizing all the words, etc.

Regarding Billy Don't Be A Hero, there is a perception that playing variety means playing crap. Not true. There are hundreds of great songs, or just good songs, out there that are neglected. No need to dig out Convoy, Let's Get Physical, or Tiptoe Through The Tulips.

 

[scooty430]

Why when there's already 95.5 KLOS? Were Arrow and KLOS really that different?

Arrow played classic rock. KLOS played Classic Rock That Really Rocked ;D

Arrow played boring rock. KLOS played slightly less boring rock. (Now that Arrow is gone, they play ultra-boring rock.)

At one time, KLOS, Arrow, and KLSX competed for listeners and you could really hear some variety as they juggled their playlists trying to attract people. Earlier on we had KMET doing the same thing.

 

[scooty430]

This weekend KRTH is doing a Summer Hits Weekend featuring lots of songs that are not on the regular playlist.

It shows you how tepid their "theme weekends" are: I usually tune in to see if anything interesting is happening on K-Earth. I heard Bennie and the Jets and then Grease and then EWF and decided nope. So I missed this weekend.

I took a look at yes.com, and they did indeed play some unusual songs, but only one or two per hour. (They also repeated some of their heavy rotation songs (Isn't She Lovely, Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie) two or three times during daytime hours!)

Amazingly, I do not think Brown Eyed Girl, a very classic summertime song that K-Earth has turned into wallpaper, was played. (Maybe that file on their computer went missing.)

Speaking of "Billy Don't Be A Hero," note that K-Earth actually played "The Hustle." Twice!

Anyhow, here are pretty much all the songs I would consider atypical that they dug out. This is looking at yes.com just during the day and evening. Nice choices, but only one or two nuggets per hour does not a "theme weekend" make. One or two (or four) "oh wows" an hour should be the WEEKDAY plan. On a "theme" weekend, it should be every, or every other song. OK, maybe every third song...

Pipeline
Elvis - You’re The Devil In Disguise
The Hustle
Beach Baby
California Sun
Because - Dave Clark 5
Tierra - Together
A World Without Love
Surfin Safari
Billy Stewart - Summertime
Chad and Jeremy - A Summer Song
Surf City
Catch A Wave
Hello Mary Lou
Catch Us If You Can - Dave Clark 5
Windy
Do You Wanna Dance
Little Honda
Bad Bad Leroy Brown
Summer Rain
All Summer Long
I Can Hear Music
Wipe Out
So Much In Love - Tymes
Little Ol’ Lady From Pasadena
Bend Me Shape Me
GTO
Dead Man’s Curve
Hey Little Cobra - Rip Chords

 

[surfdude]

I always like K-Earth's music. I heard some of those summer songs
this weekend while working around the house. Sounded great.

scooty, you sound like a "glass half empty guy".

 

[radio124]

Great post Scooty! Your analyses of KRTH are right on! Here are some random thoughts about that weekend:

It was a Summer Hits Weekend. They were just playing songs that became hits during the summertime. Hence, Honky Tonk Women was played several times. Their Summer Songs Weekend that ran about the same time last year was much better. Even so, the weekend being discussed was still better than their Parade of Hits, Deuling Decades or whatever they do on the weekend these days.

Maybe a slight improvement is that when they do do any type of themed weekend now, it seems like every other song relates to the theme. They used to just play themed songs after the TOH id and out of the two hourly stopsets.

Regarding yes.com, I have noticed that when KRTH does play something really obscure, it doesn't show up there. For example, a few nights ago during the 70's at 7 they played Happy Man by Chicago. The song did not list on yes.com. Neither did I live for the Sun by Sunrays which was played both on the Summer Songs weekend and on the 1001 Greatest Hits Weekend.

 

[oldies76]

scooty430 On a "theme" weekend, it should be every, or every other song. OK, maybe every third song...

A true themed weekend, should be that: a weekend totaly, 100% based on that theme. If the theme is 70's weekend, then ALL the music should be from the 70's. If the theme is summer songs, then ALL the songs should relate to the summer season or songs that were popular during each year's summer (the summer hits of 1974 for example) or beach songs.

If the theme is all #1 songs, then the weekend should be filled with nothing but #1 hits. The problem with KRTH is that they do themes with songs from the regular rotation mixed in, and most of these existing rotation songs have nothing to do with the theme presented.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

Their themed weekends are indeed anemic; like too many radio stations in all formats from coast to coast, the 'wow factor' has been junked due to an addiction to research and consultants, and a total lack of trust and/or respect of their audience.

'Safe radio' = 'dull radio'.

 

[davideduardo]

Their themed weekends are indeed anemic; like too many radio stations in all formats from coast to coast, the 'wow factor' has been junked due to an addiction to research and consultants, and a total lack of trust and/or respect of their audience.

"Research" = contact and feedback from listeners
"Consultants" = experts with wide, multimarket experience who help interprete and implement what listeners say they want.

 

[scooty430]

Great post Scooty! Your analyses of KRTH are right on! Here are some random thoughts about that weekend:

It was a Summer Hits Weekend. They were just playing songs that became hits during the summertime. Hence, Honky Tonk Women was played several times. Their Summer Songs Weekend that ran about the same time last year was much better. Even so, the weekend being discussed was still better than their Parade of Hits, Deuling Decades or whatever they do on the weekend these days.

Maybe a slight improvement is that when they do do any type of themed weekend now, it seems like every other song relates to the theme. They used to just play themed songs after the TOH id and out of the two hourly stopsets.

Regarding yes.com, I have noticed that when KRTH does play something really obscure, it doesn't show up there. For example, a few nights ago during the 70's at 7 they played Happy Man by Chicago. The song did not list on yes.com. Neither did I live for the Sun by Sunrays which was played both on the Summer Songs weekend and on the 1001 Greatest Hits Weekend.

I've heard that from some other places about yes.com - that it omits songs not in its database. "I Live For The Sun" is definitely a song I've never heard on the radio!

You have a point about them playing "summer" songs, not just obscure summer songs. I'm not sure songs that were hits during the summer should count, though. I remember "Hot Stuff" and "My Sharona" were big hits when I was a kid, and I remember them being very much "summer songs." But for most people time has turned those summer hits into......just old songs.

How about a "summer" themed weekend that is nothing but summer? Easy to do. Start with good-testers like "Heatwave," "In the Summertime" and "Dancing In the Streets" (plenty more of those, by the way) then throw on lots of old chestnuts. Far more compelling radio.

 

[scooty430]

I always like K-Earth's music. I heard some of those summer songs
this weekend while working around the house. Sounded great.

scooty, you sound like a "glass half empty guy".

Maybe.

Yes, all the songs are "good" on K-Earth. I just get (very) bored with the same songs repeated so often. At least I still give it a chance! (Most people I know think it's a complete joke and laugh at me for even caring about K-Earth.)

I keep my "glass full" by listening to WLNG at night, XM, and CBS-FM countdowns.

 

[ItalianAce]

Strangly Wikipedia has the information relisted for both KRTH and KCBS FM. This time it says KRTH 101.1 will become KCBS-FM 101.1 and will be an oldies station focusing on music from the 60s to early 90s (like Arrow)with a KCBS HD2 station focusing on the pre-beatles oldies (Like the old KODJ/KCBS of the 1992 era)

This doesnt make sense because 1: KRTH just started streaming there HD2 station online and KCBS HD2 went on the air and online in Feb which focuses on the Top 40 format. Okay, so even if KRTH was to change formats why do away with the call sign? Its been an Icon in Los Angeles for almost forty years. Anyone who knows radio will know KRTH 101.1. The KCBS FM call letters havent been known or heard from since 1993 when Arrow 93.1 came into play. Yeah Arrow played the top of the hour call sign jingle in a low key voice but thats still all we hear out of the call letters even today with the Jack Format.

They claim the merger will hit on July 10th 2008. I don't believe it to be true esp since we already had the Arrow format for almost twelve years and its a retired format (had a good run for a few years for KCBS but died in the end). I think someone is messing with wikipedia. But it does remind me of an old jingle I heard on KCBS FM in the early 90s when they were an oldies station. The jingle was something like "Oldies from Los Angeles to New York only on CBS-FM" which referenced the fact both cities had a CBS-FM call letter oldies station.

A.

 

[Garrett]

I was just looking at the edits to the KCBS-FM page, and I wonder what people users living in Dallas Texas and New York City are doing editing the a page about a radio station in Los Angeles? Also, who are these so called "CBS Radio staff?" Heck, the janitor could be "staff." This is starting to read like someone who just has something he/she wants to hear and is trying to force the issue by vandalizing the page. I think it's time for Wikipedia to lock that one up!

 

[scooty430]

That wikipedia post makes no sense. What does the two stations "merging" mean? A simulcast? And the point of that would be.....

 

[RicoGregg]

I just checked the Wikipedia page on KRTH, and as of 7:33pm, Pacific time, the information in question was not there. Maybe it'll be back, going by the patterns indicated in this thread's postings.

What kick does somebody get from spreading false information that's never going to happen? ??? I thought most people got that out of their system and learned that lesson by the time they finished high school.

I'm still waiting for Movin' 93.9 to become FM 94, like a naive poster kept insisting a couple months back. Wasn't it supposed to have happened by now? And where's he been lately, anyway?

 

[oldies76]

Scooty430 I keep my "glass full" by listening to WLNG at night, XM, and CBS-FM countdowns.

Scooty...Just a side note, WCBS-FM is starting a huge A to Z countdown beginning this Monday at 9am ET, thru the 4th of July weekend. They say they are going to play everything in their library (thousands of songs). KDZA just finished theirs (23 days!), so there's lots of potential here.

 

[ItalianAce]

I searched the FCC website on KRTH and KCBS-FM and there's no application for a Freq swap. Only thing was a "LICENSE TO COVER AUXILIARY PERMIT" for KCBS-FM 93.1 filed on 05/28/08. Both call sign historys dont have any listing of a call sign change. You can search the stations call sign history and application information here:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/cdbs_pa.htm

It's public access.

 

[scooty430]

Scooty430 I keep my "glass full" by listening to WLNG at night, XM, and CBS-FM countdowns.

Scooty...Just a side note, WCBS-FM is starting a huge A to Z countdown beginning this Monday at 9am ET, thru the 4th of July weekend. They say they are going to play everything in their library (thousands of songs). KDZA just finished theirs (23 days!), so there's lots of potential here.

That's a great tip. I will definitely be tuning that in!

The K-Earth Summer Song Weekend was repeated this weekend, and listening live I must say it was very well done:

- letting the DJs, especially Charlie Tuna, talk and give background. Tuna takes calls and plays old interviews. He towers over the others, though they are perhaps restrained by management. All the jocks were talking more.
- giving the My Girls and Brown Eyed Girls a rest - zero airplay for those and many other perennials!
- ALL the songs fit the theme
- pre-64 music like Ricky Nelson and Neil Sedaka was on
- lots of really rare stuff, like

I Live for the Sun - Sunrays
A Summer Song - Chad and Jeremy
TONS of rarely played Beach Boys. Tons. (I say that's good.)
Viva Tirado - El Chicano

Kudos to K-Earth. I hope they continue in that direction and dig up some more nuggets.